Catholic Church

Pope john paul ii waves to a crowd of people.

Pope’s Damaging Message To Transgender Teens

By pwsbuilder / March 12, 2019 / Comments Off on Pope’s Damaging Message To Transgender Teens

Pope Francis’ long-awaited apostolic exhortation—“Amoris Laetitia,” or “The Joy of Love”—was released earlier this month. The good news is that Pope Francis urges church leaders to be pastors rather than church bureaucrats. The request wasn’t surprising because Pope Francis immediately taking the reigns of the Catholic Church displayed a pastoral countenance to his papacy. Pope…

Read More
A bride and groom looking at a painting of the virgin mary.

Catholic Church Unfriendly to LGBT People? No, Living a Split Reality

By pwsbuilder / March 12, 2019 / Comments Off on Catholic Church Unfriendly to LGBT People? No, Living a Split Reality

A new Pew Research Center study provides an abysmal assessment of the Catholic Church for those of us who value LGBT inclusion in our faith communities. In a study of 1,197 LGBT adults released on June 13, 2013, 79 percent of those questioned rated Catholicism as “unfriendly” to LGBT people. Only 4 percent view our…

Read More
A row of statues of the virgin mary.

Showing Another Side of Catholicism

By pwsbuilder / March 12, 2019 / Comments Off on Showing Another Side of Catholicism

Whenever the media uses the phrase “Catholic Church” when they reference statements made by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) or individual church leaders, Marianne Duddy-Burke, Executive Director of DignityUSA, stands up to correct them. “The bishops try discredit Dignity by saying we’re not authorized not to use the word Catholic,” she states.…

Read More
A man sitting at a table looking at a map.

What does “go and make disciples of all nations” really mean?

By pwsbuilder / February 12, 2019 / Comments Off on What does “go and make disciples of all nations” really mean?

Arriving at World Youth Day has been an exciting experience but also one that is mixed with many other emotions from “OMG” to “eek” to “what are we getting into” to “wow this is really happening!” I then realize that the call to make disciples is not only one of evangelizing others but is also…

Read More
A priest in a green robe is holding a glass.

4 Things The Catholic Church Can Do To Change Their Relationship With LGBT People

By pwsbuilder / January 15, 2019 / Comments Off on 4 Things The Catholic Church Can Do To Change Their Relationship With LGBT People

do better. do better again. try harder. get it together.

Read More
A gold chalice on a table.

DignityUSA Moves Toward Radical Inclusion

By pwsbuilder / July 12, 2017 / Comments Off on DignityUSA Moves Toward Radical Inclusion

The Catholic Church is the largest Christian denomination in the world. The fight for the dignity and inclusion of its LGBTQI parishioners is a fight for the church’s soul and moral integrity. DignityUSA since its inception has asserted that God loves the LGBTQI community equally. This year DignityUSA held its 23rd biennial national conference in…

Read More
A group of people standing in a church.

Cardinal’s Welcome to LGBT Catholics “Felt Like a Miracle”

By pwsbuilder / June 14, 2017 /

LGBT affirming religious voices Last month, Newark, New Jersey’s Cardinal Joseph Tobin welcomed a pilgrimage of LGBT Catholics to the archdiocese’s Cathedral of the Sacred Heart—a gesture that is being hailed as a major step forward in the pastoral care of LGBT people here in the U.S. one participant going so far as calling it…

Read More
A priest is holding a cup in front of a painting.

Catholics Do Not Support Religious Refusals

By pwsbuilder / February 8, 2017 /

A new survey reveals that a majority of Catholics oppose allowing small business owners in their state to refuse products or services to gay and lesbian people, if doing so violates their religious beliefs. The data from PRRI shows that 63% of Hispanic Catholics and 61% of White Catholics oppose refusals based on religious beliefs. When…

Read More
A woman holds a rosary in a church.

For National Migration Week, Bishops Must Learn Realities of LGBT Immigrants & Refugees

By pwsbuilder / January 12, 2017 / Comments Off on For National Migration Week, Bishops Must Learn Realities of LGBT Immigrants & Refugees

This week is National Migration Week, an annual event convened by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to focus attention on the plight of migrants, refugees, and victims of human trafficking in our world. This year’s theme for National Migration week, drawn from Pope Francis, is “Creating a Culture of Encounter.” And in this…

Read More
A Boy Holding A Transgender Flag With Boards

How People Of Faith Helped Move Transgender Equality In Massachusetts

By pwsbuilder / January 4, 2017 / Comments Off on How People Of Faith Helped Move Transgender Equality In Massachusetts

In December, we saw some significant good news out of Massachusetts: the anti-LGBT organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) voluntarily withdrew a lawsuit they filed in October that would have created an unprecedented, extraordinary exemption to Massachusetts’ statewide nondiscrimination law that was updated this past year to include protections for transgender people in public places. The…

Read More